Windows 2008 "Simple" File server

[Sl33py]

Hi
I want to setup a Windows Server (2008 R2) for a company. For now I only want to use it as a fileserver for their document. They must have their own folders and don’t have access to each other’s files, some might have to access “general shard folders. I don’t want to create a domain yet because I can t manage it 100%. So what features and roles must I enable in server Manager for now. As my knowledge about Windows Server gets better I will add features to the server.

Will it be better to get Small business server? We will grow into the extra features it provides
What hardware/ Server must I get its about 20 PC?

 

[OneTwo]

Setup a domain, it will save you a lot of headaches later, hardware depends on what budget you have. And have a look at folder redirection.

 

[bekdik]

The company should get someone who is competent. if they have any sense

 

[OneTwo]

True but then again Who in his right mind wants to live in East London

 

[darkguyv3r]

I agree with bekdik, but there are a few guys that i know in East London that do know what they are doing when it comes to Windows server. Maybe you should change your question to who can you recommend to do this.

You can go for a national company, and yes they have branches in East London, are guys like Business Connexion and Dimension Data.

Else local companies you can get quotes from will be from guys like Compusys, First Technology, Border technology and Allied Business Solutions.

 

[w1z4rd]

Dont waste your time with SBS 2008 for a freeken file server. If you want to install an exchange mail server, gay Pastel or use shared calenders, then by all means, waste your money on a Windows server.

For a server that does exactly what you want thats cheaper, safer, more stable, faster, easier then go for a ClearOS server (its easier to install by far).

Alternatively give me a shout and Ill help you install it (either SBS or ClearOS), or direct you towards a competent company that handles Windows servers.

There are a couple of good guys in EL who know SBS backwards (looking at you darkguyv3r... noob, haha jk..you Windows Server admin lurker), going national would be a waste of time and money.

 

[darkguyv3r]

W1z4rd, lol yes you know me too well and in most cases business does not use nearly half of what sbs can do. ClearOS is a good route to go, but if the person dealing with the server is prefers MS i would suggest going for plain server 2008. The cals are a lot cheaper unless the business has a money to burn, which in EL most don't.

I wonder what the business's backup strategy will be? backup to the server and pray it never has a drive failure or virus?

 

[The_Unbeliever]

I would prefer to have Linux over Windows.

Viruses, trojans and the such is making every windows sysadmin's life a nightmare, especially when you're running an Exchange server on an domain.

And believe me, when disaster strikes, it is not easy to recover.

Keep in mind that, should you go for Active Domain you must have a BDC, or else you're screwed should your PDC go down hard. Which makes the running cost of Windows so much more.

Linux is free - you can have as many servers and backup domain controllers as you want, should you need these.

Also, you have to factor in antivirus and spam fltering programs in for your windows installation - running any windows server without antivirus programs is like playing russian roulette.

We do have Windows2003 with Active Domain - and no BDC. Had to install another 2003 server and make that the BDC just to apply basic CYA.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Money-wise, think about it like this :

First it's the Windows licence together with the hardware.
Then the antivirus licence.
Then the Exchange licence. (yes, you do need an Exchange licence, it's not for free)
Then the antispam licence.
Then the BDC windows licence.
Then another extra antivirus licence for the BDC.
It just never stops.

On the upside, it's got a pretty GUI and is easy to manage (most of the time).

You probably can get away with it should you use a free POP3/SMTP mail server like http://www.hmailserver.com/

Linux - you just need to buy the hardware, and do most of the stuff yourself, but what the hey... you'll learn something AND your system (if configured correctly) will be more hardened and resistant to viruses and pesky malware than Windows boxen.

But Linux's got everything included which you will need anyway, no need to buy extra licences should you need to use antivirus/email server/ftp server etc...

 

[Conradl]

Hi
I want to setup a Windows Server (2008 R2) for a company. For now I only want to use it as a fileserver for their document. They must have their own folders and don’t have access to each other’s files, some might have to access “general shard folders. I don’t want to create a domain yet because I can t manage it 100%. So what features and roles must I enable in server Manager for now. As my knowledge about Windows Server gets better I will add features to the server.

Will it be better to get Small business server? We will grow into the extra features it provides
What hardware/ Server must I get its about 20 PC?

You ask way too many questions that depend on knowledge of YOUR environment, that you then do not include:

Roles: Depends what you have running. If you already have DNS/DHCP then don't enable that. Are all the machine XP/7 PRO? If not then a domain won't be of much use. Minimum requirement is to enable file sharing....

SBS: Do you need the features, or will you be needing the features? Will you grow to75+ users? Do you have budget?

Hardware: Is this your only server? How will you be doing backups? What other servers do you require if any? How much disk space? At the most basic, go for a dual core, with RAID1 Sata disks and gigabit LAN....

 

[Sl33py]

Bekdik, OneTwo go fly a kite, if you can’t give constructive help rather leave it. Like you know everything?

To the rest of you thanks for the input.

Conradl, I have a Linux box running use IPCOP as the DHCP, Firewall Urlfilter and Update accelerator.
There 14 XP Pro and one 7 Pro.
Doubt that they would reach 20 people. It’s a NGO so they don’t have that much cash

It’s the only server, was thinking of using Cobain to back up n a hard drive. Then enable offline files on the user’s documents for a “second” backup. There total data is about 50 GB

 

[Conradl]

Have you looked at special MS pricing? You may qualify as a non profit? Have you already bought the server license and CALs, if not then it may make more sense to go for MS SBS....

Is your IPCOP also doing DNS? If you run Server 2008, it makes more sense to run AD DNS on the server. Enabling the domain will not be that much extra work, just be sure to make a system backup if you only have the one server.

So DCPROMO the server, connect clients to the new domain, create share, map drive to share, and you set.

However, would it not be better to perhaps consider using FreeNas/OpenFiler for the fileserver, Windows 2008 seems a little overkill for a simple file share or two? Or even use XenServer on the both servers, and run the various servers as virtual machines (not difficult and very easy learning curve)?

 

[Sl33py]

Yes I have registered them for it, got all their Office 2007 for less than R2000. I bought my self a Technet Sub to get all the software so I have setup a lab here in my workshop to test and do trail runs before I recomend or do anything at the customer. I have DNS pointing to IPCOP but did not do any special settings on the IPCOP PC

Will look at the servers you recomend.

I need to replace their old "server" as it is a 2.5 celeron with 256 mb ram and Win server 2003

looking at this server "HP Server Tower ProLiant ML150 G6 DC Xeon E5504 (2.00GHz) 1x250GB NHP SATA Embedded Controller 2GB(2x1GB) DVD-RW"
Will it be ok?

 

[Andre]

SBS 2008 needs 4Gig to install if I remember right. Server 2008 R2 can be installed with as little as 512k.

 

[Conradl]

I need to replace their old "server" as it is a 2.5 celeron with 256 mb ram and Win server 2003
looking at this server "HP Server Tower ProLiant ML150 G6 DC Xeon E5504 (2.00GHz) 1x250GB NHP SATA Embedded Controller 2GB(2x1GB) DVD-RW"
Will it be ok?

Why do you need to upgrade to 2008? There is nothing in 2008 that will make a basic file serve better, although it will one day be EOL so it makes sense to do it with the new hardware.
In terms of spec, since you are not using dual PSU, CPU, or hot swap disks, why not rather go for the ML110 or 120, with two disks in RAID1? The above configuration will work, assuming you add another disk, but is overkill for file sharing....

 

[Sl33py]

I dont need to, but because they are getting it cheaply I thought I might as well do it the same time as the hardware. Sango only got the CAL for 2008 on their pricelist not Server, strange? There is about R1500 ex dif between ML110 G and ML150 so I rather wanted to be safe than sorry

 

[PC Direct]

Hi
I want to setup a Windows Server (2008 R2) for a company. For now I only want to use it as a fileserver for their document. They must have their own folders and don’t have access to each other’s files, some might have to access “general shard folders. I don’t want to create a domain yet because I can t manage it 100%. So what features and roles must I enable in server Manager for now. As my knowledge about Windows Server gets better I will add features to the server.

Will it be better to get Small business server? We will grow into the extra features it provides
What hardware/ Server must I get its about 20 PC?

What you need is (depending on the amount of users) is Windows Server 2008 - Foundation Edition. Will work perfectly

We retail it for around R1960 inc VAT. http://pc-direct.co.za/pSWW210/Microsoft-OEM-Windows-Foundation-Server-2008.aspx

Drop me a mail on allan@pc-direct.co.za

See here for product details: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/foundation.aspx

 

[Conradl]

I dont need to, but because they are getting it cheaply I thought I might as well do it the same time as the hardware. Sango only got the CAL for 2008 on their pricelist not Server, strange? There is about R1500 ex dif between ML110 G and ML150 so I rather wanted to be safe than sorry

I assume you are on Academic licensing?

WinSvrStd 2008R2 OLP NL Gov 0 $550.96 R 7.60 R 4,187.28
WinSvrStd 2008R2 SNGL OLP B Acdmc 10 $103.28 R 7.60 R 784.91
WinSvrStd 2008R2 SNGL OLP C 10 $710.39 R 7.60 R 5,398.97
WinSvrStd 2008R2 SNGL OLP NL 0 $724.92 R 7.60 R 5,509.41
WinSvrStd 2008R2 SNGL OLP NL Acdmc 0 $108.78 R 7.60 R 826.73

What you need is (depending on the amount of users) is Windows Server 2008 - Foundation Edition. Will work perfectly

We retail it for around R1960 inc VAT. http://pc-direct.co.za/pSWW210/Microsoft-OEM-Windows-Foundation-Server-2008.aspx

Drop me a mail on allan@pc-direct.co.za

See here for product details: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/foundation.aspx

Wont help, needs 20 users, and besides Academic is cheaper...

 

[Sl33py]

http://www.sangotech.org/ is where I get it for them. But dont see Server 2008 on their pricelist I sent them a email to ask. 2003 go for R308 ex

PC Direct, thanks but I am also registerd with most of the suppliers

 

[w1z4rd]

Yes I have registered them for it, got all their Office 2007 for less than R2000. I bought my self a Technet Sub to get all the software so I have setup a lab here in my workshop to test and do trail runs before I recomend or do anything at the customer. I have DNS pointing to IPCOP but did not do any special settings on the IPCOP PC

Will look at the servers you recomend.

I need to replace their old "server" as it is a 2.5 celeron with 256 mb ram and Win server 2003

looking at this server "HP Server Tower ProLiant ML150 G6 DC Xeon E5504 (2.00GHz) 1x250GB NHP SATA Embedded Controller 2GB(2x1GB) DVD-RW"
Will it be ok?

Seriously look at ClearOS... really, its simple and does more than you want it to do. They install easily on ML110s (R2999) with an extra drive for raid.

Theres also excellent support for $67 a year if you feel there is something you cant handle yourself.

http://www.clearfoundation.com/Software/overview.html